Keith Christoph

Name: Keith Christoph

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: Senior

School: Bayview Secondary School

Hobbies and Interests: Friedrich Nietzsche, Murder Mysteries

Appearance: Six feet tall, and almost exactly one hundred and sixty-five pounds, Keith is an average height and weight for a male his age, though you'd never be able to tell by looking at him. His hair, straight and brown, sits below a black felt hat, one that a savvy observer might recognize as a trilby. His eyes are a shade of brown similar to his hair. His nose is long, and his nostrils wide. Resting on the bridge, and reaching back behind his ears are a pair of black-framed, square-lens glasses. His lips are thin and narrow, often pulled into a scowl or grimace. There is a dusting of fuzz above his lips and along his chin, a failed attempt at facial hair that Keith has not quite given up yet.

A plain, black t-shirt is the order of the day. At least one size too large, it hangs off of his shoulders, hiding the majority of his frame. Covering his lower half are equally-oversized cargo pants, with a grayscale camo pattern, and secured around his waist with a black leather belt. His boots are the thick, black, leather stompers that goths tend to wear, entirely impractical for casual outdoor wear, but worn nonetheless.

Biography: Keith was born to a fairly standard middle class family. His parents divorced when he was a bit less than three years old, but there was no custody battle, and the boy lived with his mother, Lisa. His father, Daniel, visited on occasion, and, for one reason or another, became the only individual Keith respected, or even listened to. Sadly, they quickly grew more distant. It finally came to a head when, on his 5th birthday, Keith received a card from his father. It was no more than a folded piece of lined paper. Inside was a simple message: "Make me proud, son". Daniel Christoph then promptly disappeared off the face of the Earth, along with his child support payments. Deprived of the one individual whom he felt he could understand, Keith became violent and stand-offish. His mother did her best to help the boy, but, already overwhelmed by the typical problems a single mother has with income, she had little time to cater to his emotional needs. Keith, essentially, grew up alone.

A young child going through some sort of powerful emotional issue will often lash out, and Keith was no exception. A biter, a hitter, and a screamer, he was every babysitter's nightmare child. His roundabout pleas for attention misunderstood by his sitters, and ignored by his mother, "The Christoph Boy" remained a nuisance all the way up to elementary school. It was at this point, three weeks before his seventh birthday that Lisa Christoph finally took action. Though her arm only swung once, she struck her son twice: for the first and last time. The boy flinched, and recoiled. Pain, though not an entirely new experience, was something Keith had to worry about, and was soon to become Lisa's favorite tool for keeping her son in line.

This sudden change of tactics by his mother was extraordinarily effective. Keith's behavior changed dramatically, tempered by the boy's fear of being hit. By the time the threat of striking Keith had lost its potency, his behavior had evolved from direct confrontation to passive-aggressive defiance. This, of course, had side effects; As the teen grew older, he became more and more bitter, and began to nurse a deep loathing for his mother. This distrust and loathing for the person he was supposed to trust the most made it extraordinarily difficult for Keith to believe anyone else was any different, and he did his best to avoid people, and keep them at arm's length, when he wasn't actively driving them away. Despite all this, the young man held a solid B average throughout his entire school career, perhaps influenced by his father's parting message. His stellar scores on tests (thanks to a rather powerful memory) were balanced out by his near-constant refusal to do homework. Keith preferred to read Agatha Christie novels or study privately on his own, on subjects which were rarely more than tangentially related to his schoolwork.

Some time around his seventeenth birthday, Keith was introduced to the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, he took to it immediately, like many nihilistic teenagers, and grossly misunderstood it, like many nihilistic teenagers. Rather than read and learn, he simply used the writings to support his own viewpoints, spouting misused quotes and faulty logic with abandon. His misanthropy, fueled by loneliness and hate, and reinforced by the misinterpreted writings of a German philosopher, grew to the point that Keith would barely say two words to anyone, and the events of the next year didn't help matters.

The one driving force in Keith's life, the one thing that had kept him somewhat on track, was the desire to see his father again. Over a decade of idolization had deified the man in his mind. A distant figure who could do no wrong, who was watching and judging Keith from afar and, by the time of his eighteenth birthday, had still shown no signs of returning. Either unable or unwilling to accept the idea that Daniel Christoph was anything but a faultless guardian, he placed the blame on the only other person in reach: himself. He hadn't made his father proud, and he wasn't coming back because of it. It was a crushing thought for Keith, and one that all but broke him. No one knew him, no one understood him, and the only worthwhile person in the world was not returning.

Keith's expectations for his senior year are low, and his stated plans for the future ("keep breathing") are undeniably cynical, though there are still hints that the young man craves his missing father's approval, as well as much stronger indications that Keith will only be able to stand his mother for so much longer.

Advantages: Analytical and pragmatic, Keith is quite capable of recognizing what must be done to survive, at least in theory. Though his memory is far from photographic, Keith has a mind for knowledge, academics in particular, a gift that would allow him to be a straight-A student if he put in the effort.

Disadvantages: Keith has a shamefully low pain tolerance; Though his mind can keep running in most crises, a single firm blow will completely wreck the young man's ability to think for several minutes, and he will go to great lengths to avoid further injury. This renders him all but incapable of forwardly-aggressive action as well, for fear of the inevitable, painful retaliation. His vision is approximately 20/80, slightly better in his right eye, so while he is not entirely blind without his glasses, he is certainly less effective. Beyond the significant physical disabilities, however, is conceivably his most exploitable weakness. Keith blames himself for his father leaving, and is desperate for his return. Ways to impress, and especially possibilities to reunite with his father still hold top priority for the young man and, with proper use, can make him extraordinarily easy to manipulate.

Designated Number: Male Student no. 152

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Designated Weapon: Blank marriage license forms from the state of Nevada

Conclusion: There shouldn't be any white weddings on THIS island! Then again, who knows, maybe that'd be good for ratings... but still, somebody would have to WANT to marry the kid. Sorry, B152, but you're better suited to melodramatic teen wangst. Stick to that, maybe take out your frustration on a few other kids. Give them paper cuts or something.

'The above biography is as written by JoystickHero. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Joystick Hero, SOTF Help, MK Kilmarnock

Kills: None

Killed By: Ivan Kuznetsov

Collected Weapons: Blank marriage license forms (assigned weapon)

Allies: None

Enemies: Jimmy Brennan, Ivan Kuznetsov

Mid-game Evaluation: Keith is awoken on the island after being trodden on by a panicking Carly Dooley. Finding his weapon, he resolved to tough the game out, even though he was under the impression the kick from Carly busted one of his kidneys. He watched her subsequently run into Jimmy Brennan and subsequently injure each other, and convinced himself that they aren't trying to kill him. After announcing himself to them, Jimmy started to hurl obscenities at him, and challengee him to fight him. Rather than doing that, he soiled himself, called Jimmy insane, and headed toward the mountain.

Upon the mountain, he encountered Ivan Kuznetsov and Tabi Gweneth, and Ivan tell him to get lost. Rather than doing that, he demanded their bags, on the basis that he was bigger than them. Ivan started to get angry, and attacked Keith, who defends himself until Ivan grabbed a large tree branch and beat Keith's head in.

Post-Game Evaluation: Wow, can you be any more stupid than this man? Who the hell tries to take someone's things with no weapons? Well, this man obviously, but he's learned now not to take appearances for granted! Well, if he was still alive, of course.

Memorable Quotes:

Threads
Below is a list of threads that contain Keith, in chronological order.

V4:


 * Woods of Paranoia
 * Haven't You Got Eyes in Your Head?

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Keith Christoph. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''
 * Keith was one of the first characters in V4 to really suffer for his inactivity. He was interesting for his early posts, and his death had an unmistakable impact on the game and was quite well-written, but since his original handler wasn't at the helm he became much more of a side character, and I really do feel like Keith had the potential to carry more of his own story. He had some interesting stuff in his background, and it was a shame to see him dropped and inactive so quickly. - MurderWeasel